WO2014095217A2

WO2014095217A2 - Method for operating a domestic appliance and domestic appliance

Info

Publication number: WO2014095217A2
Application number: PCT/EP2013/074359
Authority: WO
Inventors: Frank BÖLDT; Jörg GROSSER
Original assignee: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH
Priority date: 2012-12-21
Filing date: 2013-11-21
Publication date: 2014-06-26
Also published as: WO2014095217A3; DE102012224128A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for operating an electrically operated domestic appliance G. According to the method, the domestic appliance is connected to an intelligent power network N and a desired operating switching time t_w is transmitted to the intelligent power network N. The intelligent power network N then determines profile information I on the basis of the transmitted desired operating switching time t_w for a period of time T1 which runs from the time t_ü at which the desired operating switching time t_w is transmitted up to and including the desired operating switching time t_w, wherein a time t_g is determined as a recommended operating switching time t_g by the intelligent power network N. Subsequently, the determined profile information I and/or the recommended operating switching time t_g are transmitted by the intelligent power network N to the domestic appliance G and the domestic appliance is switched on and/or off in accordance with the profile information I or the recommended operating switching time t_g. The invention also relates to a domestic appliance G for carrying out the method according to the invention. The domestic appliance G comprises in particular a transmission arrangement IF for sending at least one piece of information to an intelligent power network N and for receiving data from the intelligent power network N, and a control circuit CTRL which processes the data to be transmitted and the received data and switches on and/or off the domestic appliance G as a function of a recommended operating switching time.

Description

Method for operating a household appliance and household appliance

The present invention relates to a method for operating a household appliance and a household appliance according to the preambles of the independent claims.

In many especially larger household electrical appliances such. B. such for treating laundry, for example, the switch-on can be set by timer. This can then u. a. at least to a certain extent steer the consumption costs resulting from electricity consumption towards lower costs, eg. B. by means of the so-called. Nachtstromtarifs. However, it is desirable to have even better control options.

A method for operating a household appliance and a correspondingly configured household appliance are known, for example, from US 201 10264932 A1. This household appliance has a communication module, which is connected to an intelligent power grid, also called Smart Grid System. About this communication module, the household appliance can send information about the energy needs to operate the same by means of an intermediate home server to a power management server of the smart grid. The information about the energy requirement can contain information about the operating time and / or the power requirement over the operating time and / or the electricity costs. Furthermore, the household appliance can receive from the power management server via the communication module information regarding the amount of energy provided by an electricity supplier, in particular with regard to the energy utilization or load peaks. The receiving information is then evaluated by a controller included in the home appliance. The electrical load of the household appliance are then controlled depending on this evaluation, so that an operation of the household appliance is avoided during a peak load time. For this purpose, the controller can suspend the operation of the household appliance and postpone the operation until there is less load in the power grid. Here by the most balanced load distribution is achieved and the household appliance can be operated at the lower cost low-load periods. A disadvantage of this operating method is that the duration for an operating program can be extended unpredictably. Thus, the user of the household appliance can not know in advance when a program selected by him will actually be finished, this is especially the case if the utilization of the power supply system changes during the operating period.

Against this background, it is an object of the invention to provide a method for operating a household appliance, by means of which an optimal operating switching time for switching on or off a household appliance can be determined. It is a further object to provide a corresponding household appliance.

This object is achieved according to the features of the independent claims. Preferred embodiments can be found in the dependent claims, the following description and the attached drawing.

Accordingly, the method according to the invention for operating an electrically operated household appliance has the following features:

- connecting the household appliance to an intelligent power grid,

Transmitting a desired operating switching time to the intelligent power grid,

Acquiring profile information by the smart grid based on the transmitted desired operation timing for a time ranging from the time of transmitting the desired operation timing up to and including the desired operation timing, setting a timing as the recommended operation timing by the intelligent power network;

Transmitting the determined profile information and / or the recommended operating switch point from the smart grid to the household appliance and

Switching on and / or off the household appliance depending on the profile information or the recommended operating switch point.

Accordingly, the household appliance according to the invention has the following features:

a transmission arrangement arranged to transmit at least one datum to an intelligent power network and to receive at least one datum from the intelligent power network, and a control circuit which processes the data to be transmitted and the received data and, depending on a processing result, causes the household appliance to be turned on or off,

an input device is included, with which a desired operation switching time can be determined,

the transmission arrangement is adapted to transmit the desired operating switching time to the intelligent power grid, and

the control circuit is adapted to switch the household appliance on and / or off depending on profile information determined by the smart grid depending on the desired operating time, or a recommended operating point determined by the smart grid depending on the desired operating time.

The particular advantage of the invention is that a power generator or a power distribution point receives information about an expected energy load of the household appliance to be operated and dependent set an operating time for the home appliance, in which the power load is distributed as evenly as possible, whereby high energy load peaks is avoided , In contrast to the prior art known from US 201 10264932 A1, according to which a control of the household appliance according to an algorithm stored in the control ultimately determines the operating time, according to the invention now operating time is set by the power generator or the power switch itself. As a result, the power generator or the power exchange can distribute the energy distribution optimally and must respond less often to any sudden peak loads with the provision of expensive additional capacity to compensate for these peak loads.

Furthermore, by specifying a desired operating time by the user of the household appliance, the power generator or the power center to specify a period within which the power generator or the power exchange can freely dispose. In addition, it is advantageously ensured that the household appliance actually carries out its operation within the period of time desired by the user. Since the power generator or the power exchange can dispose more freely, the power can be offered to the user more cost-effectively, whereby the operating costs of the household appliance can be reduced. Within the scope of the invention, switching on and / or off the household appliance also means starting and / or stopping an operating program of the household appliance. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the profile information contains information about the electricity costs, the utilization of the power grid and / or a selection of the set by the intelligent power grid recommended operating switching points for the period. If the home appliance only receives profile information, it must be further processed by a control circuit in order to determine the actual operating switching point. But even in this case, the power generator or the electricity exchange can be due to the transmitted desired operating switching point able to reorganize its expected load distribution and dependent on the desired period to determine a specific recommendation, which are transmitted to the household appliance in the form of profile information.

Preferably, the desired operation switching time is a time at which the home appliance is to be turned on or off, and the recommended operation switching time is a time when the home appliance is turned on or off. In particular, the recommended operating time is determined as a favorable time at which an operation of the household appliance within the period with the lowest electricity costs or with the lowest peak loads results.

In the event that several favorable times can be determined or a selection of recommended operating points can be provided, the recommended operating time at which the appliance is switched on or off can be the earliest most favorable time or earliest recommended operating point selected within the period , Alternatively, it is also possible to fix that point in time or to specify that operating switching point which has the smallest deviation from the desired operating switching point.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that in a case in which the recommended operating time is equal to the desired is the drive switching time, but this time is not yet reached, the process is repeated from the step "Determine profile information".

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that a latest operating switching time is set, which is temporally after the desired operating switching time, and that the determination of the profile information by the intelligent power grid for a period of time, from the time of transmitting the desired operating switching time up to and including the latest operating time. In particular, the latest operating switching point may be predetermined by a user through a corresponding input or determined, for example, from an anticipated end time of an operating program selected by the user and a desired start time of the selected operating program, both the start time and the end time being an operating switch point. According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that in a case in which the determined most favorable time is equal to the latest operating switching time, but this time is not yet reached, the method is repeated from the step "determining profile information" According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, further information provided by the household appliance is transmitted when transmitting the desired operating switching time, in particular information about the expected amount of energy required and / or over the period for which energy is required.

According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the further information is taken into account when determining the usage information by the intelligent power grid. Furthermore, the household appliance is preferably set up such that it is possible to determine the recommended operating switching point according to the method described above.

According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the at least one transmitted date is the desired operating switching time. According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the received data is the profile information and / or the recommended operating switching time. Company for generating electrical energy such. As power plant operators and the operators of networks for the transmission and distribution of electrical energy generated are increasingly endeavoring to make both the power generation as well as their transmission and distribution locally and temporally as evenly as possible, because then the corresponding equipment would not, as hitherto necessary be designed for peak load values, resulting in a correspondingly high cost, but you could interpret these systems without lower comfort and security to lower maximum loads and thus save costs. In order to achieve this goal, in recent years many networks have been upgraded to so-called "smart grids", meaning that the energy generated can be distributed more evenly both within a network and between the individual networks Smart Grid includes "the communicative networking and control of electricity generating facilities, storage facilities, electrical consumers and network resources in energy transmission and distribution networks of electricity generation".

The present invention now has the great advantage of being able to optimize both the consumption and cost behavior of correspondingly designed domestic appliances with the aid of the information available in such networks and to be able to relieve the power plants and energy supply networks involved altogether by a more uniform utilization.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an intelligent power supply system (in extracts) and an associated household appliance, and FIGS. 2 and 3 show graphically represented times and periods. 1 shows a detail of a so-called. Intelligent power grid N in a highly schematic form with two power poles stylized illustrated, three lines for the three different phases (generally referred to in the electrical installation technology with U, V and W or X, Y and Z) and with a line for the so-called neutral. The latter and one of the phase lines are connected to a household appliance G, which may be, for example, a tumble dryer, a washing machine, an oven, a dishwasher or other household appliance, where it makes sense due to habits of use, set the switch-on and / or switch-off time to be able to. The household appliance G has a transmission arrangement IF, by means of which at least one datum, such as e.g. As the desired operating time t _w , information about the expected amount of energy required and / or the period in which the energy is needed, and possibly also on the expected time distribution of the required energy in this period to the intelligent power grid N are sent can and by means of which data from the smart grid N z. B. can be received as Profilinforma- ions I. In particular, it is provided that the data are transmitted from the household appliance to a power generator and / or a power distribution point and that the profile information I compiled by the power generator and / or the power distribution center by means of the data transmitted from the household appliance, determines an operating switching point and sent to the household appliance , In the context of the invention, a power generator, a power distribution point or similar devices are understood as part of the intelligent power grid N and referred to as such.

The household appliance G furthermore has a control circuit CTRL which, in cooperation with the transmission arrangement IF, processes the data to be transmitted and the received data. Furthermore, the control circuit CTRL is adapted to take over the recommended operating switching point t _g as a switch-on or switch-off of the household appliance G and to effect the corresponding switching on and off of the household appliance G. Alternatively, the receiving data may consist only of the profile information I, from which the control circuit CTRL then determines the operating switching point t _g recommended by the power generator or the power exchange. The control circuit CTRL can also be used to set the desired operating switching time. point t _w and / or a latest operating switching point t _max in the household appliance G be entered.

The procedure is now performed as follows:

First, the household appliance G is electrically connected to the intelligent network N, for example by means of a normally existing anyway power switch. Subsequently, a desired operating switching time t _w (desired switch-on time or desired switch-off time) is determined via a control device, which may also be part of the control circuit CTRL, and transmitted to the intelligent power grid N via the control circuit CTRL and the transmission arrangement IF, for example The transmission method and means to be used for transmission are generally known to those skilled in the art. In this case, one or more of the above-mentioned information can be transmitted.

The intelligent power grid N, possibly also a further intelligent power grid connected thereto or a correspondingly commissioned other unit, now determines profile information I for individual times of a period T1 on the basis of the transmitted desired operating switching time t _w and possibly further transmitted information Profile information I can for example For example, information about the network load, about the cost structure, about the (expected) network load, ... at the individual times within the period T1. The period T1 extends from the time t _ü of transmitting the desired operating switching time t _w up to and including the desired operating switching time t _w . The period T1 is shown in connection with the times t _u , t _g (see below) and t _w in FIG. Furthermore, the intelligent power grid N sets an operating switching point t _g , which proves to be the most favorable load profile on the basis of at least one predetermined criterion for the user of the household appliance and / or the operator of the intelligent power grid N. A load profile is understood in particular to be a temporal distribution of the electricity price or of the current utilization. But it can also consist of a simple absolute time information, to which the most cost-effective operation should be started. In this context, the following can be taken into account as predetermined criteria: most favorable price for the expected power consumption, as uniform as possible (total) load distribution in the intelligent power grid N, or a state of the intelligent power grid N which has no significant influence on the information I to be determined but also a state of intelligent Electricity network N, which makes an immediate switch on the household appliance G as useful or even necessary. Further criteria are conceivable; the list is therefore not exhaustive.

The thus determined profile information I and / or the operating switching point t _g are then transmitted from the intelligent power grid N to the household appliance G. There they are received by the transmission arrangement IF and forwarded to the control circuit CTRL.

A time, then by the control circuit CTRL t _g determined that the recommended profile information l _g, in particular t the set or recommended by the intelligent power grid N operation switching point _g is _assigned. This time t _g is then set as the actual operation switching time. Thus, the profile information l _g or the recommended operating switching point t _g equals a trigger signal for the specific period T1 desired by the user. In other words, the recommended operating switching point t _g is ideally also equal to the actual operating switching point of the household appliance G.

The thus determined recommended operation switching time can then be displayed, for example, on the aforementioned control unit, a user of the household appliance G are offered so that it is informed about the actual operating time, the household appliance G is automatically taken by the control circuit CTRL in operation. Furthermore, the control circuit CTRL can also be set up so that the user either previously accepts or rejects the recommended operating switching point (in the latter case, it makes sense to replace the determined operating switching time by the desired operating switching time t _w ) or else directly by the control circuit CTRL be used to turn the household appliance G on or off at this recommended operating time. In a further embodiment of the method (cf., Fig. 3), a latest time t _max is additionally set, which is temporally after the desired time t _w . The determination of the profile information I by the smart grid N then for times within a time period T2 from the time t _ü of transmitting the overall desired operating switching time t _w up to and including the latest operating switching time t _{max is} sufficient.

It is also advantageous, in a case in which the determined most favorable time t _{g is} equal to the desired operating switching time t _w , this desired Betriebsschaltzeit- point t _w but not yet reached in time, the method from the step "determining profile information I" to repeat, if necessary even after waiting for a given or specifiable break.

Furthermore, it is also advantageous, in a case in which the determined most favorable time t _{g is} equal to the latest operating switching time t _max , this latest operating _switching time t _max but not yet reached in time, the method from the step "determining user information I "to repeat, possibly even after waiting for a predetermined or predetermined break.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

G home appliance

N smart power grid

t _w desired operating switching time

I Usage information

T1, T2 periods

t _ü transmission time

Ig cheapest usage information

t _g the most favorable usage information associated time t _max latest operating switching time

IF transmission arrangement

CTRL control circuit

Claims

Method for operating an electrically operated household appliance (G) with the following features:

Connecting the household appliance (G) to an intelligent power grid (N), transmitting a desired operating switching time (t _w ) to the intelligent power grid (N),

characterized by the steps:

Determining profile information (I) by the smart grid (N) based on the transmitted, desired operating switching time (t _w ) for a period (T1) from the time (t _ü ) of transmitting the desired operating time (t _w ) up to and including the desired one Operating switching time (t _w ) is sufficient,

Determining a time point (t _g) as recommended operating switching time point (t _g) of the intelligent power network (N),

Transmitting the determined profile information (I) and / or the recommended operating switching point (t _g ) from the intelligent power grid (N) to the household appliance (G) and

Switching the household appliance on and / or off depending on the profile information (I) or the recommended operating switch point (t _g ).

Method according to claim 1, characterized in that

that the profile information (I) includes information about the electricity costs, the utilization of the electricity network and / or a selection of the recommended operating switching points (t _g ) for the period (T1) set by the smart grid.

Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized

the desired operating _switching time (t _w ) is a time at which the

Household appliance should be switched on or off.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized the recommended operating time (t _g ) is a time when the appliance starts or stops.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the recommended operating time is set as a favorable time (t _g ) at which an operation of the household appliance within the period (T1) results in the lowest electricity costs or with the lowest peak loads.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, in a case in which a plurality of favorable times (t _g ) are determined, the earliest most favorable time (t _g ) or the smallest deviation from the desired operating switching point is determined as the recommended operating time.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in a case in which the recommended operating time (t _g ) is equal to the desired operating switching time (t _w ), but this time is not yet reached, the method from the step "determining Profile information (I) "is repeated.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a latest operating switching time (t _max ) is set, which is temporally after the desired operating switching time (t _w ), and

in that the profile information (I) is determined by the intelligent power grid (N) for a time period (T2) which extends from the time (t _ü ) of transmitting the desired operating switching time (t _w ) up to and including the latest operating switching time (t _max ).

Method according to claim 8, characterized in that

that in a case in which the determined most favorable time (t _g ) is equal to the latest operating switching time (t _max ), but this time is not yet reached, the method is repeated from the step "determining profile information (I)".

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized that when transmitting the desired operating switching time (t _w ) more of the

Household appliance (G) provided information (l _w ) are transmitted, in particular information about the expected amount of energy required and / or over the period for which energy will be needed. 1 1. A method according to claim 10, characterized

that when determining the profile information (I) by the intelligent power grid (N), the further information (l _w ) are taken into account.

Household appliance (G) comprising a

a transmission arrangement (IF) arranged to transmit at least one datum to a smart grid (N) and receive at least one datum from the smart grid (N), and

a control circuit (CTRL) which processes the data to be transmitted and the received data and, in response to a processing result, causes the home appliance (G) to be turned on or off;

characterized in that

an input device is included with which a desired operating switching time (t _w ) can be defined,

the transmission arrangement (IF) is set up to transmit the desired operating switching time (t _w ) to the intelligent power grid (N) and the control circuit (CTRL) is adapted to operate the household appliance (G) in accordance with profile information (I) transmitted by the intelligent Power supply depending on the desired operating timing (t _w ) are determined, or a recommended operating switching point (t _g ), which is set by the smart grid (N) depending on the desired operating switching time (t _w ), switched on and / or off.

Domestic appliance (G) according to claim 12, characterized

in that the determination of the recommended operating switching time (t _g ) takes place in accordance with the method according to one of Claims 1 to 11.

14. Household appliance (G) according to claim 12 or 13, characterized the at least one transmitted date is the desired operating switching time (t _w ).

15. Household appliance (G) according to one of claims 12 to 14, characterized

the received data is the profile information (I) and / or the recommended operation switching time (t _g ).